{"id":817945,"date":"2026-03-11T02:36:19","date_gmt":"2026-03-11T02:36:19","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/817945\/"},"modified":"2026-03-11T02:36:19","modified_gmt":"2026-03-11T02:36:19","slug":"explaining-the-mystery-sensor-pogacar-wore-at-strade-bianche","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/817945\/","title":{"rendered":"Explaining the Mystery Sensor Poga\u010dar Wore at Strade Bianche"},"content":{"rendered":"

Poga\u010dar kicked up a storm of speculation about the unusual bicep sensor he wore at Strade Bianche. We found out what it actually is.<\/p>\n

\"Poga\u010dar<\/p>\n

(Photo: Getty Images )<\/p>\n

Updated March 10, 2026 11:15AM<\/p>\n

Tadej Poga\u010dar<\/a> created his own take on a black box mystery Saturday at Strade Bianche.<\/p>\n

Images of King Pog as he raised his right arm aloft to celebrate his fourth victory<\/a> in Siena\u2019s iconic Pizza del Campo kicked up a storm on social media.<\/a><\/p>\n

What\u2019s that mysterious dark shadow near his armpit?<\/p>\n

Veteran TV pundit Brian Smith<\/a> and Het Nieuwsblad<\/a>\u2018s podcast panel joined the masses in Couch Peloton who pondered the distinct bulge beneath Poga\u010dar\u2019s dusty rainbow skinsuit.<\/p>\n

Is it one of the optical heart rate sensors that have taken running by storm? A pioneering new continuous lactate sensor<\/a>? A core temperature sensor, maybe?<\/p>\n

Or \u2013 shock horror \u2013\u00a0a strictly forbidden continuous glucose monitor?<\/p>\n

Turns out it\u2019s none of those things, and it\u2019s neither controversial nor is it hugely exciting.<\/p>\n

UAE Emirates-XRG confirmed to Velo on Sunday that it\u2019s simply Poga\u010dar\u2019s Whoop strap.<\/p>\n

These heart rate variability trackers are most commonly worn at the wrist for optimal accuracy and comfort, but can be worn elsewhere.<\/p>\n

After several years of only offering the OG wrist strap, Whoop released a bicep alternative for users who don\u2019t get on with clutter at their cuffs, or were struggling with unreliable readings.<\/p>\n

Why Poga\u010dar chose the bicep?
\n\"Poga\u010darPoga\u010dar was seen with his Whoop on his right wrist this winter. (Photo: Getty Images)<\/p>\n

Rewind through any bike race, and you\u2019ll see dozens of elite racers wearing a Whoop on their wrist. They track sleep and heart rate variability to provide a unique insight into strain, fatigue, and recovery.<\/p>\n

Mathieu van der Poel is a particularly high-profile ambassador for the burgeoning wearable brand<\/a>, and Team EF has had an official partnership.<\/p>\n

Poga\u010dar\u2019s UAE Emirates-XRG squad joined the HRV party this winter when it officially teamed up with Whoop.<\/p>\n

Team staff confirmed to Velo that many of their riders have been using the bicep strap in the months since. Comfort, reliability, and aerodynamics were all factors in a rider\u2019s preference.<\/p>\n

The curious thing?<\/p>\n

Poga\u010dar has been seen wearing his Whoop on his wrist many times this winter. Not even UAE staffers could explain why he chose to stick it in his armpit for Strade.<\/p>\n

One thing that\u2019s certain \u2013 it can\u2019t have been an aero consideration. Just look at the size of the $300,000 Richard Mille watch<\/a> that weighed down Poga\u010dar\u2019s left arm in Siena.<\/p>\n

And if it was a P.R. stunt, we all fell for it, hook, line, and sensor.<\/p><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Poga\u010dar kicked up a storm of speculation about the unusual bicep sensor he wore at Strade Bianche. We…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":817946,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[4104],"tags":[207496,4230,135594,79,235612,151831,183955,235613,132984,16,15],"class_list":{"0":"post-817945","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-cycling","8":"tag-audio-true","9":"tag-cycling","10":"tag-parent_category-road","11":"tag-sports","12":"tag-tag-strade-bianche","13":"tag-tag-tadej-pogacar","14":"tag-tag-uae-team-emirates","15":"tag-tag-whoop","16":"tag-type-article","17":"tag-uk","18":"tag-united-kingdom"},"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/pubeurope.com\/@uk\/116208218074795910","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/817945","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=817945"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/817945\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/817946"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=817945"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=817945"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=817945"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}